Title

Author

Date of Award

Degree Type

Thesis

University or Center

Clark Atlanta University(CAU)

School

School of Social Work

Degree Name

M.S.W.

Department

Social Science and Clinical Social Work

First Advisor

Mary Curtis Ashong

Abstract

African American women traditionally have lower rates of suicide than women of other races; however, over the past 20 years the rates of suicide have increased in the African American community. The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of religiosity and spirituality as coping strategies for African American women. Findings show that there is a correlation between higher levels of religiosity and spirituality and lower levels of suicidal ideation, hopelessness and depression. It was hypothesized that higher levels of religiosity would be more positively correlated with lower levels of suicidal ideation, hopelessness and depression than spirituality. Conversely, it was found that spirituality accounts for more of the variance associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation, hopelessness and depression.